“Does your dick get hard every time you see her?”
“Fuck yeah.” I lean in. “Gotta jack off in the shower almost every night after watching her in the gym all day.”
Blood throws up his palms. “Too much information, asshole.”
The door bangs open, and Maxie stands over me. “What do you think you’re doin’?” She slams her hands on her hips. Never a good sign with a woman. Believe me, I know—two ex-wives.
“Sitting in here getting my drink on.” I turn back to the bottle and mumble, “What’s it to you?”
“Might be nice if you went out there and supported our fighters.”
“I support them every fuckin’ day ofthe week.”
“Except tonight when they need you the most, you’re in here hiding from a woman you oughta be with, and you know it.”
“I don’t know shit.”
“You got that right.” Maxie smirks.
“Well, neither do you, ‘cause you don’t know anything about what goes on between Martina and me.”
“You’re right, and it’s also none of my business, but since Martina’s a Harlot, and we look out for each other, I’m warning you.” She pokes me in the chest. “Either treat her like a friend and stop ignoring her, or claim her and fuck her in your bed, but this in between shit is killing her, and I need her focused.”
“I doubt she even notices.”
“Bullshit!”
I pour another shot. “How come everybody keeps saying that to me?”
“‘Cause you’re acting like an asshole. Now, put the booze away and come out and watch the fights like a man.”
I turn to Blood. “You gonna let your woman talk to me like that?”
“Yeah, I am, cause she’s dead-bang right, and you know it.”
“Fine.” I push out of the chair and grip the edge of the desk for support. “I’ll come out and watch the fights if it’ll shut you both up.”
Maxie rolls her eyes in an annoying way, and I turn to Blood. “Shit, brother, I feel sorry for you. Do you win any fights?”
“What do you think?”
“I can hear you,” Maxie says from the doorway.
MARTINA
“No matter what happens in the cage, you’re a winner.” Maxie pulls the tape over my palm, around my knuckles andthumb. “You already had the skill, and now you’ve put in the work.”
I focus on her words and what they mean to me. What this night means to me. This fight is way more than getting in the cage and winning. It’s finally doing something I’m passionate about, for me.
“Don’t listen to any outside noise. Concentrate on your opponent. Follow her eyes. Her eyes will tell you her next move.”
I think of my mother and wish she could be here to see me. I called her when Maxie gave me the phone a few weeks ago. I told her I was safe and would be home soon. I didn’t give her too much detail ‘cause I didn’t know where my life was heading, but now I’m sure.
Right here in this gym is what I want. Diesel might’ve broken my heart, but I will do this with or without him because I have finally found my tribe in the Royal Harlots.
Maxie and I leave the gym, and my eyes widen at the octagon cage brightly lit in the dark night. The crowd is cheering and jeering the fight in progress, yelling for blood, tension surrounding the arena. The fighter delivers a crushing blow, his opponent crashes to the mat, and the winner is declared as the loser is dragged away.
The reality of what I’m about to do becomes clear.
